With the burgeoning vehicle population posing a challenge to persons managing the two parking lots at the Salem Railway Junction, commuters and experts are of the view that a multi-storeyed parking lot for two-wheelers and an underground parking lot for four-wheelers are the need of the hour.
With the spacious regular parking lot for the cars at the main entrance of the railway junction overflowing during the peak hours, the Railways allotted adequate space near the foot overbridge entrance. No doubt, this has come to the rescue of people in a big way in parking the cars safely.
However, the indifferent attitude of people in parking their vehicles on the ever busy road in front of the junction (Khader Khan road) citing inadequate space in the main parking lot is proving a big headache to the railway authorities and the traffic managers of the city.
The parking of cars on both sides of this road creates traffic snarls on the stretch from the Suramangalam Head Post Office to the Railway Parcel Office.
The Railway sources blame the vehicle owners for parking their cars on this main road, despite the presence of additional spacious car parking lot at a stone’s throw away.
The sources say that this is happening mainly in the early morning hours, when many long distance trains arrive and depart from the Salem Junction.
“We are helpless, as people park the cars on the roadsides, which does not come under the control of the railways,” a senior railway official said.
A cross-section of the vehicle users complains that the additional parking lot lacks facilities.
Concrete flooring has not been done, due to which the parking lot turns slushy when it rains.
Moreover, the additional parking lot is a little far away and people have to come out on the main road to reach the main entrance, collect tickets, make enquiries at the information counter, and watch the train timings display board.
The Railways should accord priority for laying concrete floor and also for creating basic infrastructure at the additional parking lot, says G. Ethiraj of Hasthampatti, a regular commuter.
The parking space in both the parking lots is not adequate enough to meet the future demands, say the experts.
This could be understood from the presence of many parking lots for both two-wheelers and cars in the vicinity of railway junction.
At any point of time, the demand for parking space far exceeds the supply at the Salem Junction. With plans for creating more open parking lots hamstrung by paucity of land, building integrated multi-storeyed complexes will be a viable solution, they say.
Multi-storeyed parking lot for two-wheelers at Tiruchi Railway Junction operated by the Railways has come in a big way in solving the parking problem. The Salem division could take a cue from the Tiruchi division and construct multi-storeyed parking lot at the Salem Junction, they demand.
